This invention relates to wear indicators, and more particularly to a novel and improved method and means for indicating when a sports ball, such as, a racquetball, as well as other articles, has been worn past its useful life; and still further relates to wear dots for indicating when a sports ball has reached each of successive degrees of wear during its life.
Many balls used in various sports have a useful life span. When a ball has been enjoyed to the end of its useful life, it begins to show signs of wear and tear. Severe wear marking the absolute end of the ball""s life may be manifested by splits, cracks, or ruptures in the ball. Before failing completely, however, a ball may show signs of wear that perceptibly impair the ball""s performance, such as reduced resiliency resulting in diminished xe2x80x9cbounce.xe2x80x9d Also, irregular, xe2x80x9coff balance,xe2x80x9d eccentric, or other non-standard shapes resulting in imperfect bounces, rolls, and the like, which can detract from the enjoyment of the game. The problem of worn balls afflicts all sports that use balls, including baseball, football, basketball, and soccer. The problem is most acute, however, in the racquet sports, such as tennis, racquetball and squash, where an even mildly xe2x80x9cflatxe2x80x9d or odd ball can dramatically affect the quality of play. Nearly all racquetballs tend to deform or lose bounce after significant use.
Unless a ball is nearly new, there is no reliable manner for simply and quickly evaluating its degree of wear. Very new balls may still exhibit the manufacturer""s printed brand name, but brand names are printed using ephemeral inks that wear off in as few as two or three games. The brand names are printed on the balls primarily to trademark the balls for identification at the time of purchase. Nevertheless, racquetball manufacturers sometimes use the printed brand name as a usage gauge for purposes of warranty; if a ball splits or breaks before the printed brand name has worn off, the ball is regarded as xe2x80x9cunder warrantyxe2x80x9d and perhaps the subject of free replacement. Most balls have significant useful life remaining after the label is gone. Simple visual inspection of a ball presently known in the art is an inadequate means of determining remaining useful life. Some balls exhibit a scuff or two and may remain quite lively and symmetrical and completely acceptable for continued use. Contrariwise, a used ball can appear unimpaired and nevertheless have lost much of its resiliency or roundness.
Currently, the most common methods for determining if a used ball is satisfactory for further play are subjective and imprecise. Probably the most often used xe2x80x9cwear testxe2x80x9d is to drop to the floor, from a height of about five feet, the used ball simultaneously alongside a xe2x80x9cfreshxe2x80x9d ball to compare the respective bounce of the balls. Experienced players sometimes simply drop the one ball to be evaluated to observe the bounce and evaluate based on experience. Many players also squeeze the ball in the hand to sense rigidity and regularity. Another very common practice is to hit the balls with a racquet to xe2x80x9ctestxe2x80x9d the feel of the ball. Irregular or poor rebounds indicates that a ball has been used past its prime and is a candidate for discard. These known methods of ball evaluation suffer from a number of drawbacks. All are time-consuming, and realistically can be performed on but one ball at a time. The drop-and-compare test demands the availability of a fresh, new, xe2x80x9ccontrolxe2x80x9d ball to serve as the standard. All the tests can be affected by ball temperature and are generally unscientific and subjective.
Thus, at any given time, a racquetball sports person is at best only vaguely aware of the degree of wear of any particular used ball in his or her possession. Consequently, many players, especially recreational players, continue to use balls worn past their prime and to the point that playing performance may be affected. Also, players may overcompensate by hitting a xe2x80x9cdeadxe2x80x9d ball harder, possibly causing injury. Moreover, depending upon the level of play, such as, tournament or professional play, it is desirable to be able to ascertain the degree of wear at different stages throughout the useful life of the ball.
Accordingly, there is a need for a simple, accurate means for evaluating the degree of usage or wear that a ball has undergone in order to eliminate from play those balls that have exceeded their useful life. An ideal method of evaluation will permit a ball""s degree of wear to be determined by visual inspection of the ball, so that several balls can be evaluated or compared simultaneously and without the use of a new xe2x80x9ccontrolxe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cstandardxe2x80x9d ball. Also desirable is a ball wear indicator that signals various degrees of ball wear, so that a user can at a glance tell if, for example, the ball is nearly new, or well-used but still acceptable for play, or over-worn and in need of retirement.
Similarly, a need remains for a means for imprinting a ball with a lasting manufacturer identification. Ball users need a way to sort used balls according to manufacturer in order to reserve particular brands of balls for appropriate situations, such as expensive balls for tournament play, cheaper balls for use on poor quality courts, and the like. Moreover, ball manufacturers seek to present their trademark to the user throughout the ball""s useful life, rather than merely for the first two or three games.
Patents representative of the prior art are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,020,612 to J. T. McGrath et al; 2,023,673 to D. W. Ellis; 4,524,614 to C. V. Leunig et al; 4,774,150 to K. Amano et al; 5,291,774 to C. E. Putnam, Jr.; 5,303,574 to J. Matossian et al and 5,322,031 to M. Lerner et al.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide for a novel and improved wear indicator for articles of the type in which the useful life is dependent upon the wear to which its external surface is exposed.
It is another object of the present invention to provide for a novel and improved wear indicator for sports balls and other articles which is low cost, simple and efficient to apply to the ball or other article and yet highly reliable and dependable in use.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide for novel and improved marking elements to be applied to sports balls and the like to indicate different degrees of wear to which the ball is subjected.
It is a still further object of the present invention to provide for a novel and improved wear indicator for articles which does not require modification to the article itself or alteration of the article in the course of manufacture; and further wherein use of the wear indicator enables imprinting of a more lasting manufacturer""s identification mark on the article.
In accordance with the present invention, there has been devised a novel and improved wear indicator for use in combination with various articles of manufacture which have a useful life dependent upon the wear to which their external surfaces are exposed in use and wherein the novel and improved wear indicator comprises a plurality of visible marking elements applied to each of the exposed surfaces, each of the elements being characterized by possessing a different selected degree of wear, or resistance to wear so as to indicate that the article has been subjected to a predetermined degree of wear when that marking element is no longer visible to the human eye.
The invention is further characterized by establishing different degrees of wear according to the thickness of each marking element, composition of the marking element, or a combination of both so that each respective marking element will signify a selected degree of wear when no longer visible to the human eye. Furthermore, each different marking element is of a different color, each color signifying a selected or different degree of wear.
The present invention has particular utility when used in connection with sports balls and in particular those composed of a rubber or rubber-like material which are susceptible to wear in relation to their extent of use, and a preferred form of wear indicator is composed of a mixture of pigment and rubber cement hardener in which the resistance to wear increases with increases in the volumetric ratio of the hardener to the pigment. Moreover, the marking elements are preferably in the form of dots and may be used alone or in combination with a brand name on the ball to signify different selected degrees of wear.
The above and other objects, advantages and features of the present invention will become more readily appreciated and understood from a consideration of the following detailed description of preferred and modified forms of the present invention when taken together with the accompanying drawings in which: